December 15th

Ruth Ione Newman, 79, of the Coralville area died Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City.
Memorial services were held Dec. 5 at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service. Burial will be at a later date in Monmouth, Ill. In lieu of flowers a memorial fund has been established in her memory. Online condolences may be sent for Ruth’s family through the web at www.gayandciha.com.

Beverly Mahoney, 83 of Oxford, died Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, surrounded by her family.
Funeral services were held Dec. 7 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Oxford, followed with burial at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Visitation was held Friday at the church, concluding with a parish vigil service. A memorial fund has been established in Beverly’s memory. Online condolences may be sent for her family through the web at www.gayandciha.com.

John E. Howell, 69, of Hazleton, died Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids.
John was born on Nov. 19, 1944, in Meadville, Pa. the son of Grover C. and Mary Alice (Clark) Howell. He was raised in the Meadville area and later moved to Lisbon, living in the area until moving to the Independence/Hazleton area in 1997. John was employed as a Communication Engineer, with the CCE Company in Cedar Rapids, prior to his retirement.
On Aug. 29, 1988, John and the former Linda L. Goldsworth were united in marriage in Memphis, Mo.

John Thomas Hall, 62, of Dacula, Ga., passed away on Nov. 21, 2013, surrounded by loving family and friends. He was born in Portage, Wis., on Feb. 21, 1951. He worked in feed manufacturing at Growmark and Southern States from 1970 until 2013.
John is survived by his wife of 43 years, Terry Amrhein Hall; son, Tom (Jenny and grandsons Brady and Jordan) Hall of Nixa, Mo.; daughter, Wendy (Jason and granddaughter Corissa) Gavin of North Liberty; mother Paula Hall of Dover, Ark.; sister Vicki (Doug) Hall of Hector, Ark.; brother Tim (Laura) Hall of Red Oak, Texas.

Richard (Dick) Brown of Iowa City died peacefully on the morning of Dec. 3, 2013. Memorial Services were held Dec. 6 at First Presbyterian Church, Iowa City, with the Rev. Sam Massey officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to First Presbyterian Church or to Iowa City Hospice.

Joan Baker, 83, of Cedar Rapids, passed away on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013, at the Meth-Wick Community following an extended illness. Funeral Service was held on Dec. 6 at River of Life Worship Center. Interment will be at Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery.
Joan Baker was born Oct. 3, 1930, in Festina, the daughter of Clem and Bertha (Miller) Gardner. She was united in marriage to Larry Baker on April 18, 1973, in Illinois. The three things that were most important to Joan were her family, her faith, and living life to its fullest. She will be greatly missed.

How do you get a Polack into a bathtub? Simple, throw in a nickel.
These and about another hundred jokes survive from my childhood growing up in the Chicago area. Later, I would run into many of the same in Iowa, only recycled as “Bohemie” jokes.
In my youth, long before the age of political correctness, I told the jokes in ignorant innocence of the terrible discrimination the Poles faced from the German and Russian empires. There was nothing funny, for example, about the ethnic slurs guised in the form of humor Nazi Germany perpetuated to make ethnic cleansing more palatable.

It seemed to be an evening devoted to babies. Well, not entirely, but they kept popping up on the radar– or rather the television screen. There was a rerun of a once popular detective program, with the classy, lollypop-addicted detective Kojak, played by Telly Savalas. It wasn’t about babies, but if you remember, he often used the expression, “Hey, baby!” The baby theme continued with a baby lotion commercial wherein we were treated to watching a mother lovingly smooth lotion over the plump tummy of a gurgling baby.

December 12th

John T. Hall, 62, formally of Iowa City, passed away on November 21, 2013. He worked for Growmark and Southern States from 1970 to 2013.
John is survived by his wife of 43 years, Terry; son, Tom (Jenny, grandsons Brady and Jordan) of Nixa, MO; daughter, Wendy (Jason, granddaughter Corissa) Gavin of North Liberty, IA.
A time of fellowship celebrating John's life will be held on Saturday, December 21, 2013, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in North Liberty, IA from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

December 8th

NORTH LIBERTY– North Liberty’s 100th birthday came with some unexpected gifts that will keep on giving.
Throughout 2013, the community celebrated North Liberty’s centennial year with monthly events that both commemorated the past and reveled the present. A little more surprising were the plans and visions for an improved future that resulted from the conversations and planning that took place over the last 12 months, said Assistant City Administrator and Centennial Committee member Tracey Mulcahey.